DESIGN West: Microchip Boosts 8-Bit MCU Integration

Products with closed-loop embedded control could soon be simpler to design, thanks to a new level of peripheral integration on eight-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) that will be announced today at Design West.

The new, highly integrated MCUs will incorporate converters, op-amps, comparators, and other peripherals that could enable design engineers to simplify the control of motors, power supplies, battery chargers, and lighting systems. The devices are said to offer peripheral functionality that wasn't previously available in low-cost environments.

"This gives a level of integration that engineers haven't previously seen in eight-bit microcontrollers," said Greg Brown, product marketing manager for Microchip Technology Inc., which is introducing the products. "It will help simplify design and make it easier for engineers to create that new power supply or motor controller."

For design engineers, the new technology makes it easier to incorporate a combination of analog and digital control in closed-loop embedded systems. Microchip said the technology is targeted at charging systems for nickel-cadmium, lithium-ion, and nickel-metal hydride batteries, as well as brushed and brushless DC motors, switch-mode power supplies, and lighting systems. Control of lighting systems could be an especially strong area for the technology, since light-emitting diodes and fluorescent lamps will require electronics to drive their lighting elements.

Chuck, thanks for this story. It's amazing that 8-bit MCUs are still around (I, too, have written about their imminent demise). It's even more amazing to read about the peripherals that can now be integrated on these little beasties, especially the op amps and ADCs.

Seems like it happens all the time. Companies try to expand the application of their new products to widen the market. A big part of the proposed market is an overkill (or not enough). Then someone gets smart and applys the KISS principle.

When you look at the day to day tasks that most microcontrollers need to perform, 8 is enough For years we wrote in Assembly, trying to save every byte and sometimes every bit in sub 1K ROM sizes. Now most development is in C and even the smallest designs are 2K or more. A battery charger, toaster or touch-free towel dispenser doesn't need a 32 bit core, but some good peripherals and enough memory to develop in C is a great place to use the smaller geometries and lower cost of today's technology. Even with complex tasks a fast 8 bit core can get the job done. I recently had a design that required some graphic manipulation, so I benchmarked a Silicon Labs 8051 against an Arm Cortex M0. The 8051 was faster, however I'm sure that the Cortex was dogged down by the GCC compiler from the development kit. Just the same, the pipe-lined 8051 was more than up to the task of juggling 24 bit graphics.

Good point, Rob. It's also an example of how the eight-bit architecture continues to remain competitive. For years, we've heard eight-bit is going away (full disclosure: I've written it, too). But eight-bit remians viable and cost-competitive.

Good point, Rob. As the devices these microcontrollers are targeted at become more a part of a system that requires control, this level of integration will allow them to be more intelligently cotrolled. I a thinking about energy awareness and total system load applications.

A few weeks ago, Ford Motor Co. quietly announced that it was rolling out a new wrinkle to the powerful safety feature called stability control, adding even more lifesaving potential to a technology that has already been very successful.

It won't be too much longer and hardware design, as we used to know it, will be remembered alongside the slide rule and the Karnaugh map. You will need to move beyond those familiar bits and bytes into the new world of software centric design.

People who want to take advantage of solar energy in their homes no longer need to install a bolt-on solar-panel system atop their houses -- they can integrate solar-energy-harvesting shingles directing into an existing or new roof instead.

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